Owing to recent advancement in computer technology, it has become comparatively easy to process the image read with a scanner on a computer (image processing). For the purpose of meeting the demands for formation of high-quality hard copies from such an image, the utilization of silver halide photographic materials has been examined; as a result, the image formation using a scanning exposure system has come to be carried out.
As examples of a method of image formation using a scanning exposure system, mention may be made of the method disclosed in JP-B-62-21305 (The term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication") which comprises subjecting a photographic material to the scanning exposure using light emitting diodes as light source, the method disclosed in JP-A-62-35352 (The term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") which comprises subjecting a high chloride-content photographic material to the scanning exposure with laser beams, and the method disclosed in JP-A-63-18346 which uses as light source the second harmonic wave obtained by the use of a semiconductor laser device and an SHG element. In WO87/04534, on the other hand, reduction in the total time for image formation is attained-by using a silver halide having a high chloride content as the silver halide of a photosensitive material. However, the image formation according to those methods has a drawback such that it tends to provide blurred images since a variation in density between rasters is emphasized by a variation in quality between lots of a photosensitive material, a temperature condition upon exposure and a fluctuation in processing after exposure.
It is known that mitigation of such a drawback is possible by overlapping rasters in the scanning exposure operation. For instance, JP-A-04-249244 discloses the method of dissolving the blurred-image problem by adjusting the overlap between rasters to 15-95% of the beam diameter. In JP-A-05-19423, on the other hand, it is stated clearly that improvement in dependence on exposure temperature is possible by adjusting the overlap between rasters to 5-95% of the beam diameter. However, problems caused by the characteristic of scanning exposure, that is, short exposure with light of high illumination intensity, including the deterioration of photographic properties due to exposure of silver halide to light of high illumination intensity, e.g., lowering of the maximum density of a developed color (Dmax), cannot be prevented by the adoption of the aforementioned exposure methods alone. Thus, improvements in those exposure methods have been desired.
On the other hand, persons skilled in the art have been required to reduce wastes of photographic processing solutions, particularly to reduce the replenisher volume of a color developer and the effluent volume of a used color developer, and to simplify the composition of a color developer. A conventional color developer for silver halide color photographic materials is a basic solution in which a p-phenylenediamine derivative is dissolved, so that it is unstable and subject to deterioration due to ageing. Accordingly, such a conventional color developer requires frequent replenishment and many kinds of preservatives for maintaining the developing performance constant. Such being the case, the conventional color developer also has a problem that it gives rise to a large quantity of water solution which cannot be discharged unless it undergoes complex treatments for disposal.
As an effective means to solve the above problem, it is possible to adopt a method of incorporating an aromatic primary amine or its precursor as a reducing agent for color formation into a hydrophilic colloid layer. Specific examples of an aromatic primary amine developing agent or a precursor thereof which can be incorporated in hydrophilic colloid layers include the compounds described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,507,114 and 3,764,328, JP-A-56-6235 and JP-A-58-192031. However, these aromatic primary amines and the precursors thereof are unstable, so that the photosensitive materials in which they are incorporated have a disadvantage in generating stains upon long-range storage before photographic processing or upon color development. As another effective means, it is possible to use a method of incorporating the sulfonylhydrazide compounds described, e.g., in EP-A1-0545491 and EP-A1-0565165 into a hydrophilic colloid layer. According to this method, the processing with an alkali solution free from a developing agent becomes possible, provided that an auxiliary developing agent or its precursor is incorporated as well. Therefore, it becomes feasible to reduce the replenisher volume of a developer (an alkali solution) and the effluent volume of a used developer, and to simplify the composition of a developer.
As mentioned above, a fairly satisfactory density of developed color can be obtained by the processing method in which a basic aqueous solution containing a conventional p-phenylenediamine derivative is used as color developer, but the maximum density of a developed color is lowered in the case of high illumination intensity exposure. In addition, such a color developer requires complex handling. It is therefore desired to overcome these disadvantages by technological development.